News and Events for Nantucket Island
A familiar sight along the harbor and around our many ponds, Ospreys are a common site as they dive for fish across the island. Ospreys (Pandion haliaetus) are iconic on-island, a part of our maritime community. Also known as Fish Hawks, they are abundant on Nantucket this time of year, having migrated back this way in late March. While these majestic birds of prey are now a fixture of early spring and summer on the island, that was not always the case.
Nantucket Atheneum Pass(port) Program The Nantucket Atheneum is expanding its educational offerings with the launch of The Pass(port) Program, a new initiative offering free museum and experiential passes to library patrons. Library cardholders — both year-round residents and visitors — can borrow passes for complimentary admission to select island museums […]
Join Nantucket’s Maria Mitchell Association for a free, safe viewing of the April 8, 2024 solar eclipse.
Join the Maria Mitchell Association as it hosts a celebration of Maria Mitchell’s 205th birthday this Tuesday afternoon, August 1 on Vestal Street. From 1 pm to 4 pm, this free event willl offer astronomy and natural science activities, live animal displays, research demonstrations, face painting, live music by Susan […]
Caravan to the shores of Polpis Harbor, where you’ll discover a field of tents set up for an evening of dining and dancing under the very stars that have guided the explorers before us. Partygoers will enjoy the beautiful colors of the evening sky as the sun sets, dancing to […]
Astrophotography is the use of photography in astronomy: the photographing of celestial objects and phenomena. In addition to capturing details of extended objects like Earth’s moon, it also has the power to photograph objects not visible to the human eye, such as dim stars, nebulae, and galaxies. The Maria Mitchell […]
The night sky above Nantucket is not like most places. Celestial bodies seem to shine differently here, thirty miles out to sea and surrounded by the dark waters of the Atlantic. We are far enough away from big city light pollution, and the air is clearer. On a clear night, this island boasts some of the best stargazing human eyes can behold.
From 9 to 10 pm next Tuesday night, June 21, scientists from Nantucket’s Maria Mitchell Association (MMA) will lead an expedition to find and study members of a species that is older than the dinosaurs right here on our island beaches, under stars that are even older.
